On $1 billion profit, Facebook paid MUCH less than nothing in taxes
From Citizens for Tax Justice:
“Earlier this month, the Facebook Inc. released its first “10-K” annual financial report since going public last year. Hidden in the report’s footnotes is an amazing admission: despite $1.1 billion in U.S. profits in 2012, Facebook did not pay even a dime in federal and state income taxes.
Instead, Facebook says it will receive net tax refunds totaling $429 million. Facebook’s income tax refunds stem from the company’s use of a single tax break, the tax deductibility of executive stock options. That tax break reduced Facebook’s federal and state income taxes by $1,033 million in 2012, including refunds of earlier years’ taxes of $451 million.
But that’s not all of the stock-option tax breaks that Facebook generated from its initial public offering of stock (IPO). Facebook is also carrying forward another $2.17 billion in additional tax-option tax breaks for use in future years.
So in total Facebook’s current and future tax reductions from the stock options exercised in connection with its IPO will total $3.2 billion.”
To review:
Facebook makes a billion-dollar profit.
Facebook executives cash out billions of dollars in stock options (money taxed at the 15% capital gains rate).
Taxpayers then cough up an additional $429 million paid to Facebook, which because of its generosity to its own executives won’t be paying state or federal corporate income taxes for years to come.
– Jay Bookman
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352 comments Add your comment
Fred ™
February 15th, 2013
1:38 pm
American Christian & Patriot!
February 15th, 2013
1:33 pm
Their corporate tax should have been ZERO in the first place.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Yeah because THAT worked so well in Ireland.
Idiot.
Steve
February 15th, 2013
1:39 pm
@Lance, I really truly appreciate your honest, straight forward, intelligent and rational viewpoint. It’s very refreshing in here.
That Black Guy
February 15th, 2013
1:39 pm
stands for decibels
February 15th, 2013
1:31 pm
Kinda like lawyers.
Yep. Thing is, it seems perfectly OK for folks from both sides to take pot shots are the legal profession–who hasn’t made a lawyer joke?–but there are all manner of skimmer-class service-industry folk who are more or less immune.
And yes, I do recognize the value in software development, and obviously Facebook isn’t simply a cannibalistic enterprise (although it certainly can seem that way). But this notion that all Captains of Industry are brave entrepreneurial souls who shouldn’t have mean things said about them when they’re clearly playing us, is ridiculous.
and yes I know I’m probably preaching to the choir here.
_________________________________________
dB, I’m so glad you put that last line in there. Saved me from having to say I agreee with you (darnit, I just did).
Monty
February 15th, 2013
1:40 pm
No one on here angry at the unions for forcing GM to pay someone a salary of over 100,000 a year to work an assembly line without an education and then retire with a huge pension? (Great gig if you can get it)Then the workers because of unions and no fear of losing their job could do a half-az job of putting it together. I know, I bought one of those products, that I could list over 30 things wrong with it. You know, buy an American car built on Wednesday rule. Unions have destroyed the nation.
Thomas Heyward Jr
February 15th, 2013
1:40 pm
Every dollar less stolen by the state……………..is less this—————–
From Lawrence Vance—–
.
A high school teacher writes about the military recruiting in his high school during P.E. classes: “The military guys were asking what careers they were interested in. Of course each one ended in how the military offers it, it’s better, and free college. One kid responded he’d like to be a professional video game player. They then explained how flying drones is a lot like playing a video game.”
Thanks George W. Bush for giving us the No Child Left Behind Act that made this recruiting possible.
Obama loves it.
.
sad
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 15th, 2013
1:40 pm
Heywood, shouldn’t you be warning us about that Iranian Qaher-313 stealth fighter shown in that Iranian photo release over Mount Damavand? I think its poised to attack Wisconsin weddings
TaxPayer
February 15th, 2013
1:41 pm
It’s only fair that Facebook, like other US domiciled corporations, get those breaks given that, according to hidden camera testimony, those other 47% have already mooched their share off the taxpayers.
Steve
February 15th, 2013
1:41 pm
@Monty – exaggerate much?
http://www.glassdoor.com/Hourly-Pay/General-Motors-Assembly-Line-Worker-Hourly-Pay-E279_D_KO15,35.htm
General Motors Assembly Line Worker Hourly Pay
29-58K
They are loaded, man!
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 15th, 2013
1:43 pm
Monty: No one on here angry at the unions for forcing GM to pay someone a salary of over 100,000 a year to work an assembly line without an education and then retire with a huge pension?
Are they also driving a MARTA bus?
That Black Guy
February 15th, 2013
1:43 pm
Steve
February 15th, 2013
1:31 pm
Imagine if this cruise ship that got stranded was a government run situation? You cons would be all over it. But this is private industry gone BAD. These cruise ships fly the flags of countries with very little regulation, lowering cost but increasing the chance of things like…fires in the boiler room leading to poop in the hallways.
_____________________
Steve, if they operate in US waters or out of US ports, they are subject to US regulations just like US flagged ships. They are also subject to inspection and fines by the US.
Cherokee
February 15th, 2013
1:43 pm
American Christian & Patriot!
February 15th, 2013
1:33 pm
Their corporate tax should have been ZERO in the first place.
I wonder why people who put ‘Christian’ in their name always say such un Christian things?
TheDixieDove
February 15th, 2013
1:45 pm
What is My Fair Share of Taxation?
http://PatrioticEconomics.blogspot.com/
Ayn Randians love to ask this question concerning tax rates. They know that there can be no innately perfect answer, so they gleefully pose it in the hopes that the conundrum will show Liberals that taxation its self is illogical. But wait a second. I say the fair tax rate for any individual should be based on the idea of what is best for society as a whole. Not simply to redistribute wealth, but taking into account how much government revenue is necessary to keep law and order and help the nation thrive through investments in infrastructure and modernization. And we must consider who profits most from these investments and is in the best position to contribute. This answer will always be in flux and should be based on our analysis of history, what worked and what didn’t.
Life is full of questions which don’t have perfect answers, but which we must make our best effort to deal with for society is to function. What is a ‘fair price’ for anything? In our free market the answer is ‘whatever the market will bear’, but we all agree that price gouging during a natural disaster should be prohibited and no one would want that to be the guideline for our government in setting fees for licenses (driving or marriage, or business) or penalties for crimes committed. None of these questions have perfect answers, but we all know they must be answered.
During the Great Depression we raised the upper tax rates on the most prosperous citizens to double or triple what they are today. That led to the USA having 45 years of unprecedented growth and prosperity. I say that today we need to learn from that lesson. I am not in favor of taking the rates back up to those levels on the wealthy, but it seems very clear that the ‘fair share’ the wealthy should pay needs to be moved somewhat back in that direction. Taking the upper rate back to half of what it was during our hey days, 45%, would be a very wise and modest move in the right direction.
Erwin's cat
February 15th, 2013
1:45 pm
Keep – Nope they are a “repackager for profit of the private information of millions of individuals who voluntary disgorge the private information that they would scream if the government asked for it all.”
It’s a consignment shop…that fleeced wallstreet
Fred ™
February 15th, 2013
1:46 pm
Monty
February 15th, 2013
1:40 pm
No one on here angry at the unions for forcing GM to pay someone a salary of over 100,000 a year to work an assembly line without an education and then retire with a huge pension? (Great gig if you can get it)Then the workers because of unions and no fear of losing their job could do a half-az job of putting it together. I know, I bought one of those products, that I could list over 30 things wrong with it. You know, buy an American car built on Wednesday rule. Unions have destroyed the nation.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
I’m sure you can provide some proof to all the mindless garbage you just wrote above can’t you. I hope you understand that I neither hold my breath nor wait around for it……..
barking frog
February 15th, 2013
1:46 pm
Cherokee
I wonder why people who put ‘Christian’ in their name always say such un Christian things?
……………………………………………………………………………
They want to put you off guard so they can steal your land.
St Simons - he-ne-ha
February 15th, 2013
1:46 pm
the 1:28 is true – and refutes NOTHING in the host’s article,
you wanna get even madder? they can go BACK for 2 years
and do this too (if they didn’t take advantage of it then)
комиссар (Occupation)
February 15th, 2013
1:47 pm
“Okay, I give up. The point of this particular blog is what?”
Rubes gonna yawp.
getalife
February 15th, 2013
1:48 pm
No more crying about our deficit cons since you support this mooching.
Fred ™
February 15th, 2013
1:48 pm
Nope they are a “repackager for profit of the private information of millions of individuals who voluntary disgorge the private information that they would scream if the government asked for it all.”
You got that right Cowboy. No facebook on this computer. Biggest piece of spyware EVER, and folks worshipt them for it.
Steve
February 15th, 2013
1:49 pm
@that black guy
WRONG
You can read a detailed analysis of this debate from Caitlin E. Burke of the University of Florida, in her paper “A Qualitative Study of Victimization and Legal Issues Relevant to Cruise Ships.” She notes the “flags of convenience” trend dates back to Prohibition: “Cruise lines have been circumventing U.S. statutes and regulations since as early as the 1920s.” She also cites a legal journal report on ship registry practices: “By opting to re-flag in a new nation, a vessel owner becomes subject to the safety, labor and environmental codes of that nation. Thus, those nations whose open registries have become the most popular also tend to be those who possess the most lax labor, safety and environmental codes.” Burke’s summation i
http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/cruises/2012/12/11/why-are-cruise-ships-registered-in-foreign-countries/1760759/
Fred ™
February 15th, 2013
1:51 pm
комиссар (Occupation)
February 15th, 2013
1:47 pm
“Okay, I give up. The point of this particular blog is what?”
Rubes gonna yawp.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
His response is as accurate as his translation of комиссар.
It doesn’t mean occupation.
комиссар: n. commissar, commissioner, government official
St Simons - he-ne-ha
February 15th, 2013
1:52 pm
‘Matt’, if that’s the only lesson you learned here, then I highly
recommend against a career in the exciting field of accounting
Fred ™
February 15th, 2013
1:52 pm
Someone come do my dishes and quit whining about whatever it is you are whining about. That way I CAN continue to whine…….
Dave
February 15th, 2013
1:55 pm
While the $400 plus refund is crazy, taxing corporations just masks what we, flesh and blood people, pay in taxes. Corporations don’t “pay” taxes, they collect them from us and remit them to various governments. The “taxes” they remit are part of overhead, tacked on to the prices they charge us – we pay that price, including the tax component, in addition to all the other taxes we pay.
If we didn’t tax corporations would we pay more in tax? It should be a wash, the rate paid on personal income would go up and the prices we pay (now including the corporate taxes) would go down. The advantage is not monetary; rather, it is in being able to more clearly see what government costs us. And it costs a bunch.
St Simons - he-ne-ha
February 15th, 2013
1:55 pm
hey, in my plethora of banner ads, I see there’s a $10 discount
at the Creek casino this weekend. Do I get that? Or does that hurt me
in the long run? See how it works?
Fred ™
February 15th, 2013
1:56 pm
TBG: I have to split, butKam is in town. If you can, see if we can put together a whirlwind Trap shooting outing for tomorrow. Me, you, Kam, Bro, and TBG. There are 5 stations and that kmakes 5 of us. They open at 10 which is the best time for me. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. Last minute and all…….
http://www.atlantaskeetshooting.com/
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 15th, 2013
1:57 pm
<I.Corporations don’t “pay” taxes, they collect them from us and remit them to various governments
Why THAT explains why I pay soooooo much to be a member of Facebook. I hear tell that some are paying membership fees in the thousands.
Fred ™
February 15th, 2013
1:58 pm
Dave
February 15th, 2013
1:55 pm
While the $400 plus refund is crazy, taxing corporations just masks what we, flesh and blood people, pay in taxes. Corporations don’t “pay” taxes, they collect them from us and remit them to various governments. The “taxes” they remit are part of overhead, tacked on to the prices they charge us – we pay that price, including the tax component, in addition to all the other taxes we pay.
If we didn’t tax corporations would we pay more in tax? It should be a wash, the rate paid on personal income would go up and the prices we pay (now including the corporate taxes) would go down. The advantage is not monetary; rather, it is in being able to more clearly see what government costs us. And it costs a bunch.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Nice Neal Boortz recycled rant “Dave.” You didn’t happen to be a Forsythe County Commisioner once did you?
So how did that crap work out for Ireland? When you answer THAT question get back to me.
Just damn.
Liberal Nightmare
February 15th, 2013
1:58 pm
hahahaha…Libs complaining about a company who’s board and executives are admitted bleeding heart libs. Damn those evil Fox news watching republicans at Facebook……oohh wait.
stands for decibels
February 15th, 2013
1:59 pm
Are they also driving a MARTA bus?
Even if Monty were being terribly honest/accurate… there is the presumption that we should be outraged at the mere prospect that some guy who actually produces something for a living might earn a modestly upper-middle-class income from it and retire in some degree of security of comfort.
We hear a lot about “wealth envy” from the left, but I think it’d be hard to top ol’ Monty’s post @ 1.40 for blatant 10th Commandment violation.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 15th, 2013
2:00 pm
Me, you, Kam, Bro, and TBG
And if this were a Star Trek episode, who is going to be shot in the 1st 5 minutes?
Erwin's cat
February 15th, 2013
2:01 pm
Why THAT explains why I pay soooooo much to be a member of Facebook. I hear tell that some are paying membership fees in the thousands.
actually, I read that they are considering charging a fee to highlight your posts to people on your friends list….imagine no one being able to see what other people posted what they had for lunch…the horror
Erwin's cat
February 15th, 2013
2:01 pm
And if this were a Star Trek episode, who is going to be shot in the 1st 5 minutes?
It’s always the new guy
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 15th, 2013
2:01 pm
Stands, yep I thought of that but then when they post that kind of stupidity, you can’t expect them to comprehend the nuances.
Thomas Heyward Jr
February 15th, 2013
2:02 pm
TheDixieDove
February 15th, 2013
1:45 pm
.
.
Life is full of questions which don’t have perfect answers, but which we must make our best effort to deal with for society is to function. What is a ‘fair price’ for anything? In our free market the answer is ‘whatever the market will bear’, but we all agree that price gouging during a natural disaster should be prohibited and no one would want that to be the guideline for our government in setting fees for licenses (driving or marriage, or business) or penalties for crimes committed. None of these questions have perfect answers, but we all know they must be answered.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
.
We don’t have a free market…………….and “we” DO NOT agree that price gouging is wrong during a natural disaster…………………..and these questions DO have a perfect answer.
.
You do not have the right to force anyone else to do anything.
.
If you the think that the thugs of the State should force anyone to do anything then…………….you’re morally bankrupt.
Admit it………Know it…………you don’t have to live it.
It’s never too late to change.
Choose peace and non-agression.
getalife
February 15th, 2013
2:02 pm
Don’t drink and skeet.
Jefferson
February 15th, 2013
2:02 pm
Monty is full.
moonbat betty
February 15th, 2013
2:02 pm
OCCUPY FACEBOOK!!!
barking frog
February 15th, 2013
2:04 pm
And if this were a Star Trek episode, who is going to be shot in the 1st 5 minutes?
Fred™ do not wear a red shirt or Bro will say
“He’s dead Kam.”
AmericaShrugged
February 15th, 2013
2:04 pm
Jay – Your post is factually incorrect. “Facebook executives cash out billions of dollars in stock options (money taxed at the 15% capital gains rate).” As Kam would say, not meant to be a factual statement. There are two types of executive stock options, incentive and non-qualifying. These were non-qualifying because the employer does not get a tax deduction for incentive options. When the options are exercised their value, the differene between the market price and the option price, becomes taxable as ordinary income to the executive. Go to college, get some knowledge.
Steve
February 15th, 2013
2:04 pm
I love you so many conservative posters in here, and elsewhere, just make #$%^ up.
St Simons - the superfluous expendable crew member
February 15th, 2013
2:05 pm
but cap’n there’s nothing out there but jerb killin taxes & regulations
blahblahblah
February 15th, 2013
2:05 pm
matt @ 1:12 pm nicely debunked Bookman. Well done.
TaxPayer
February 15th, 2013
2:05 pm
Darn those Russians. First they beat us to space and now they’re going to be ahead of us in asteroid mining.
комиссар (Occupation)
February 15th, 2013
2:06 pm
Fred: “His response is as accurate as his translation of комиссар. / It doesn’t mean occupation. ”
Yep, no translation required. Same word as used in English.
Liberal nightmare: “company who’s board and executives are admitted bleeding heart libs”
Well, Zuckerberg himself is of course carrying on a widely publicized political mating ritual with none other than Mr. Chris Christie. So I don’t know how “bleeding heart” that is.
F. Sinkwich
February 15th, 2013
2:07 pm
“I really truly appreciate your honest, straight forward, intelligent and rational viewpoint. It’s very refreshing in here.”
*blush*
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 15th, 2013
2:07 pm
My bet is that before the outing is over, Kam will be kissing an illegal alien
Real Scootter
February 15th, 2013
2:07 pm
Don’t drink and skeet.
Dang getalife,party pooper.
Stevie Ray
February 15th, 2013
2:08 pm
JAY
It ain’t exactly illegal and Facebook is simply doing what your hero, his cronies, and the GOP are letting them do…none of them have the nuts to do anything about it.
Singling out Facebook is like picking a needle in a haystack.
I presume you and all others on this forum take advantage of favorable tax treatment…
stands for decibels
February 15th, 2013
2:08 pm
As Kam would say, not meant to be a factual statement
oy.
Odds that our “Atlas Shrugged” knows what those who refer to “not intended to be a factual statement” are actually riffing on?
one in infinity or so? maybe?
Ol' Timer
February 15th, 2013
2:08 pm
@Class of 98 — Georgia would have a booming economy like North Dakota and Texas if we had oil and natural gas deposits to fuel a boom. Further Texas has about 13,000 defense contractors who received over $350 billion in government contracts over the last decade. As far as Florida is concerned, you might want to take a second look at their economy.
Steve
February 15th, 2013
2:09 pm
@Stevie Ray – I pay a good chunk of my income to all kinds of taxes. So should corporations.
Mama Says
February 15th, 2013
2:11 pm
Thanks Jay,
Now maybe you libs can see what cons mean when we say stop raising taxes. You libs can only do one thing, raise taxes. the fact is if you raise taxes Facebook still pays nothing.
Somehow ya ll can’t see that. Part of the con compromise was to close loop holes. Obama could not do that because he wanted to spend more than he wanted Facebook to pay.
This is really simple stuff, lower taxes and close loopholes. What would have been the tax revenue on Facebook if you libs had taken advantage of the power u currently have and resolved that issue rather than just trying to spend more ?
Obama could have closed all corporate loopholes when he had the entire government and 90% of the rank and file cons would have supported it. But no more lip service
Dave
February 15th, 2013
2:11 pm
Fred at 1:58 p.m. You are entirely too gleeful. I’m no expert on Ireland, it attracted a lot of investment by low taxes on corporations. I don’t know anything that leads me to believe that a higher rate would have insulated it from the recession that hit us all. Enlighten me.
Boortz does indeed dislike corporate taxes and wants to do away with income tax for flesh and blood people and replace it with the Fairtax (FairTax?). Don’t know if those are good ideas or not. I do know that if you and I go up and down the streets in “Forsythe (sic) County” or elsewhere, almost no one will be able to tell us the true percentage of their income that goes to government in one way or another.
I’m not a tea party type, indeed, I’m more of liberal, commie, pinko type. I understand the need for taxes. I just don’t like the now much too long current trend to mask what we pay.
stands for decibels
February 15th, 2013
2:12 pm
I presume you and all others on this forum take advantage of favorable tax treatment…
Why yes, I do.
And I can manage to put together what amounts to a few C-notes’ worth of political / advocacy donations in a typical given year in order, in hopes of steering an elected official or two a little closer to the path of righteousness. Multiplied times millions who think kinda-sorta like me, if we have our act half-together, we might manage to eke out a concession here or there.
Now, let’s compare that to the sort of influence that guys like Zuck have over the process.
If you think that makes a healthy representative republic, fine. I think it’s pretty sucktacular, myself.
barking frog
February 15th, 2013
2:13 pm
As Kam would say, not meant to be a factual statement
…………………………………………………………………….
I think of that phrase as the ‘Kamshaft”
Stevie Ray
February 15th, 2013
2:15 pm
TheDixieDove
February 15th, 2013
1:45 pm
Took me 3 kleenex to clear my tears.
“into account how much government revenue is necessary to keep law and order and help the nation thrive through investments in infrastructure and modernization”.
Please define what law and order looks like. Do investments include entitlements?
“During the Great Depression we raised the upper tax rates on the most prosperous citizens to double or triple what they are today. That led to the USA having 45 years of unprecedented growth and prosperity”
The two do not correlated. The boom happened after WWII.
stands for decibels
February 15th, 2013
2:16 pm
sucktacular? Meant to say “Zucktackular.” I regret the error @ 2.12.
Erwin's cat
February 15th, 2013
2:16 pm
I think of that phrase as the ‘Kamshaft
with a somewhat retarded offset…j/k Kam..it’s a hot rod reference
getalife
February 15th, 2013
2:17 pm
“Dang getalife,party pooper.
”
Or go dick cheney
alex
February 15th, 2013
2:17 pm
@ America shrugged, no need to be obnoxious, I doubt they teach that in college, useful information anyway, try not to frame it with obnoxiousness…thanks.
@ fred, you are degenerating quickly today, don’t want to be blocked (we need the comic relief),easy, buddy….. watch the anger—–PUT DOWN THE GUN……
St Simons - we're on Island time
February 15th, 2013
2:18 pm
While THIS committee goes on doing nothing, the House Science
Committee, chaired by some guy from Texas named Lamar (R-yeehaw),
is planning a meeting on asteroids and comets that might hit ‘merka.
getalife
February 15th, 2013
2:20 pm
lamar wants to drill baby drill on those asteroids.
barking frog
February 15th, 2013
2:20 pm
Erwin’s cat
with a somewhat retarded offset…j/k Kam..it’s a hot rod reference
………………………………………………………………
and you’re still back to the original intent…..
Mama Says
February 15th, 2013
2:21 pm
By the way Jay,
If one person paid a15% rate on their Facebook income, one time, they would pay more than 98% of one libs lifetime total tax contribution. So although I agree with the observation that Facebook benefitted from the loopholes that Obama has done nothing about, your attempt to act as if taxes were not paid on Facebook income is nothing but more propaganda.
Humm come to think of it, your entire argument assumes that Facebook is a person rather than a business. I mean you are saying Facebook didn’t pay taxes. How could it its not a person ? Why did you ignore the total taxes paid by the people who reaped the Facebook payout ?
By the way, is this loophole the same one that allowed Kerry to move his yacht to a state that didn’t tax it ?
Madmax
February 15th, 2013
2:21 pm
Keep Up the Good Fight!
Keep – if you don’t understand the concept, better to follow your moniker and KEEP your mouth shut. The internet is not free and someone is paying those taxes and those employees and keeping the sites maintained and they are passing those expenses on to us consumers. Please stop with the inane retorts.
TaxPayer
February 15th, 2013
2:21 pm
Why should corporations pay taxes! It’s not like they’re… people!
Stevie Ray
February 15th, 2013
2:22 pm
stands for decibels
February 15th, 2013
2:12 pm
You should take you ire out on congress who makes these sort of rules..you can castigate Zuckerman and thousands of other folks and entities that utilize this legal form of compensation. But your irrelevant rants will only become relevant when your hero and his folks get with the other dopes and simplify the tax code.
Real Scootter
February 15th, 2013
2:22 pm
Or go dick cheney
getalife
February 15th, 2013
2:24 pm
Just one word for cons crying about our deficit.
Facebook.
You can’t be for trillions of welfare for the banks, corps and mic and cry about our deficit.
Make a choice cons.
stands for decibels
February 15th, 2013
2:24 pm
But your irrelevant rants will only become relevant when your hero and his folks get with the other dopes and simplify the tax code.
ha ha ha. “Simplify the tax code.”
One born every minute, I guess.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 15th, 2013
2:28 pm
I wondered why my ears were burning.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 15th, 2013
2:29 pm
The internet is not free and someone is paying those taxes and those employees and keeping the sites maintained and they are passing those expenses on to us consumers
So Madmax, what are you paying as a Facebook membership fee? Think of the low low prices we could have if we just banned corporate advertising. We could also limit CEO salaries and get even lower prices.
southpaw
February 15th, 2013
2:30 pm
St Simons
Lamar canceled the meeting on the grounds that the asteroid won’t hit America or anywhere else. And guess where he found that out?
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/02/15/incoming-asteroid-will-miss-earth-by-17150-miles-closest-known-flyby-for/
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 15th, 2013
2:30 pm
I wondered why my ears were burning
Just your ears?
Stevie Ray
February 15th, 2013
2:30 pm
STANDS
BTW, I said nothing about my opinions about tax code. What they are doing is legal…IMO the tax code needs simplification and there is much that can be improved upon. It doesn’t appear as you (or Jay who impetuosly popped this out from Huffington via a pearl from some Leftist site. There is much more to it than what you understand…You can google SEC.gov and search 10K filing for Facebook and do your own thinking..
Stevie Ray
February 15th, 2013
2:32 pm
stands for decibels
February 15th, 2013
2:24 pm
Gee another in a daily series of vague, deflecting and irrelevant commentary. Good for you.
barking frog
February 15th, 2013
2:32 pm
Keep Up
We could also limit CEO salaries and get even lower prices.
……………………………………………………………………………
It seems we can mandate hourly minimums but not
yearly maximums.
That Black Guy
February 15th, 2013
2:33 pm
Steve
February 15th, 2013
1:49 pm
WOW. I stand corrected and rebuked. :blush:
Real Scootter
February 15th, 2013
2:33 pm
I wondered why my ears were burning.
In case you didn’t already know,you are an ICON here Kam!
комиссар (Occupation)
February 15th, 2013
2:33 pm
Stevie: “The two do not correlated. The boom happened after WWII.”
The top tax brackets were vastly higher than now in the 1940s and 50s, so this includes the Eisenhower administration which never made so much as a peep about changing them. So this was obviously one of the periods of capitalism’s greatest expansions and growth.
It was only under the Democrat Kennedy (Johnson) that the gradual lowering of rates began which continues to today.
Today, with rates at historical lows, with growth feeble, with each ‘recovery’ to a downturn weaker than the last, and with investment in long-term growth-producers (infrastructure, education, technological transformation) at an ebb, the facts are very clear on the relationship between high rates of taxation of ultra high incomes and overall economic prosperity.
Mama Says
February 15th, 2013
2:34 pm
Getalife,
I believe it’s your guy who gave billions to the banks last and had Wall Street laugh at him when he failed to put conditions on the money he gave them.
I tell u what when libs cab understand that giving something away, otherwise known as spending, is the cause of the debt, then we can talk seriously. The entire concept that all of you base your complaints on is based on people and companies not giving more. When you figure out that giving away all u have and then continuing to send what u don’t have is the cause for the debt then, and only then, will you get a con to try to reason with you.
You use fake math, the kind that justifies taking people’s money by the fact that you have spent all of yours.
RB from Gwinnett
February 15th, 2013
2:34 pm
It’s funny how liberals get all upset about people and corporations actually abiding by the tax code for their own benefit instead of joining the conservatives in their quest for a flat tax or a fair tax or some other tax structure than the garbage we have now. It’s as if everybody who makes more than they do must be vilified, but don’t ask them for another dime. In fact, send them a refund at everybody else’s expense.
Here’s a tip for you Jay. Facebook did not write the tax code. If they broke the law, fine, but whining because the dare to follow the tax code is pathetic. If you don’t like the tax code, aim your whining at the people in Washington who wrote the tax code and who now control it. And, NO, I don’t care what party they belong to.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 15th, 2013
2:34 pm
Real Scootter
Oh joy, oh bliss.
AmericaShrugged
February 15th, 2013
2:35 pm
Alex – I understand these are fairly left slanting op ed pieces, but a real journalist would check the facts or have some intern check them for him. That’s so un-professional it merits my obnoxious tone!
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 15th, 2013
2:35 pm
Now, how did those slanties get there?
TBS
February 15th, 2013
2:36 pm
Stevie Ray
I’m not sure stands’ commentary on Facebook is any less relevant than your rants about NY Times this, NY Times that.
just saying
Abrazos
February 15th, 2013
2:38 pm
“Why should corporations pay taxes! It’s not like they’re… people!”
Good one, TP.
As the saying goes, “I’ll believe corporations are people when Texas goes ahead and executes one.”
Steve
February 15th, 2013
2:38 pm
(rolling my eyes)
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
February 15th, 2013
2:39 pm
You use fake math…
Election night Karl Rove says, “What?”
That Black Guy
February 15th, 2013
2:39 pm
Keep Up the Good Fight!
February 15th, 2013
2:00 pm
Me, you, Kam, Bro, and TBG
And if this were a Star Trek episode, who is going to be shot in the 1st 5 minutes?
Keyser Soze
February 15th, 2013
2:39 pm
“Here’s a tip for you Jay. Facebook did not write the tax code. If they broke the law, fine, but whining because the dare to follow the tax code is pathetic. If you don’t like the tax code, aim your whining at the people in Washington who wrote the tax code and who now control it. And, NO, I don’t care what party they belong to.”
Hi nail, meet hammer.
Steve
February 15th, 2013
2:40 pm
RB – wanna know why we don’t like these ‘flat’ or ‘fair’ taxes? Because every non partisan study shows that they FAVOR THE WEALTHY AT THE EXPENSE OF THE MIDDLE CLASS.
Do your homework.
That Black Guy
February 15th, 2013
2:40 pm
Fred, sorry, this weekend and next are no good for me.
AmericaShrugged
February 15th, 2013
2:40 pm
I’m for modifying the tax code, but not in this case. From a tax standpoint this is exactly like paying out cash bonuses except it defers the tax to the employees until the options are exercised. Corporations should not be taxed on income in the first place.
Steve
February 15th, 2013
2:40 pm
@Keyser – progressive have been “aim our whining at the people in Washington who wrote the tax code and who now control it” for a very long time now.
getalife
February 15th, 2013
2:42 pm
mama,
So, you did not choose the deficit.
Got it.
Moderate Line
February 15th, 2013
2:44 pm
Facebook executives cash out billions of dollars in stock options (money taxed at the 15% capital gains rate).
+++++
Based on what I have read this is not true.
After you exercise the option, of course, you own the stock and your new tax basis is the market price on the exercise date. You now have a choice. If you hold the stock for more than a year after the exercise date, it appreciates, and if you sell, your gain is taxed as a capital gain. If it appreciates and you sell it before more than 12 months are up, it is taxed as regular income. In either case, if you sell for less than the market price on the exercise date, you have a loss that can offset other gains.
http://www.smartmoney.com/personal-finance/taxes/taxes-on-nonqualified-stock-options-9304/
Also, if they there were getting this money in the form of a salary the company would deduct.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
February 15th, 2013
2:44 pm
Well, I like this idea of getting rid of corporate income tax. That would whack 8% or so from federal revenues. Now we all know the godly Republicans ain’t going to set still for raising the tax on people to make up the difference. That leaves cutting spending as the only way to make up for the cut in revenue.
One way or another, the geezers and the other Takers will be taking it in the shorts. The rest of us might have to suffer a price reduction in what we buy from the corporations, but I’m willing to sacrifice for the good of the country.
getalife
February 15th, 2013
2:44 pm
“Corporations should not be taxed on income in the first place.”
Another one that did not choose the debt.
How about shutting up about cuts after the sequester cuts?
Deal?